Chronic liver diseases

Abstract

Chronic liver disease is an umbrella term that encompasses a spectrum of diseases that affect the liver for at least a period of 6 months. Examples of this include primary sclerosing cholangitis, hepatic steatosis, and biliary cirrhosis. Unfortunately, the medical treatment for most of these diseases is either ineffective or simply nonexistent. As a result, there is high interest in finding chemical entities, including naturally occurring ones such as extracts from the milk thistle and the bioactive compound (+)-catechin, that can serve as a lead to the creation of a more effective treatment for such diseases. Furthermore, it has long been recognized that patients with a chronic liver disease are at a higher risk of malnutrition and therefore an appropriate nutritional regime is of utmost importance in improving the prognosis of this group of patients.